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Birmingham City BZA approves five dimensional variances for single-family homes
Summary
The Birmingham City Board of Zoning Appeals approved five dimensional variances for properties across the city after staff presentations, applicant testimony, and limited public comment; each approval was tied to submitted plans and board members said special lot geometry or preexisting nonconformities justified relief.
The Birmingham City Board of Zoning Appeals approved five dimensional variances at its monthly meeting, granting modest setback relief tied to submitted plans for homes at 655 Hawthorne, 236 Pleasant, 952 Brookwood, 350 Shirley, and 550 South Glenhurst.
The board’s decisions followed staff presentations that cited Chapter 126, Article 4, Section 4.74(c) (minimum distance between principal residential buildings: 14 feet or 25% of lot width) and an explanation that curved or irregular lot geometry produced larger setback calculations in some cases. Mike Moran, assistant building official, presented the first appeal and explained the chord-based measurement on a curved lot produced a required setback of 41.74 feet where the applicant proposed 38.3 feet, prompting a 3.44-foot variance request for 655 Hawthorne.
Applicants described narrow, practical needs or design constraints behind the requests. Lauren Freund, the appellant for 655 Hawthorne, said, “This is my grandparents’ home,” and asked the board to allow a rear addition while preserving the front elevation and original roofline. For 236 Pleasant,…
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